Sunday Sketches - Reflection

This is a quick sketch for Sunday Sketches, done in my art journal (5"h x 7"w) in watercolour pencil. It's meant to be trees reflected in a river.  Merry Christmas when it arrives, real soon!

Oatmeal Cookies

I made these oatmeal cookies recently from a recipe I had saved more than 3 years ago but never tried. This will be a keeper recipe, I think the cookies are amazing. They are large and soft. You can add chocolate chips or raisins or cranberries and it is EASY.

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

3 cups oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips or raisins or cranberries


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Crack eggs into a medium bowl. Stir in sugar. Add softened butter and mix well. Stir in vanilla.

Add flour, baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients until just blended
Stir in chocolate chips or raisins or cranberries. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Paint Party Friday - After the Snowfall

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! This piece is entitled 'After the Snowfall' inspired by a recent 20 cm (close to 8 inches) snowfall we had.  Then the weather got mild and it looks like it will be a green Christmas.  This piece is done in my art journal (5"h x 7"w) in watercolour pencil. We really do have some grey days like this at this time of year, with no sunshine.

Cookie Making

There was a wonderful, even uplifting (maybe inspiring is the right word) story in the paper recently.  It's concerning this lady whose husband has body dementia and how she cares for him with love.

Daughter L was at her boyfriend's family's house one weekend and sent me this photo of these lovely 'sugar dusted cocoa cookies with rolo filling' that they made. I love anything cocoa, I loved these.

They also made these lovely classic shortbread cookies:

Buttermilk Chicken

I had some leftover buttermilk that I wanted to use up.  I found this wonderful recipe for 'oven-fried buttermilk chicken'.  It might be one of the best chicken dishes I've ever made!  And it's easy.

buttermilk marinade

all done

Here is my adapted recipe:

I noticed that marinating overnight is worth it. Also the breadcrumbs soak up the buttermilk dripping while baking and there will be a delicious flavour and smell. It's also an easy recipe. Recommend!

Ingredients

2 cups buttermilk
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons hot sauce, such as Sriracha
1/2 tsp tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tbs dried oregano
4 chicken legs, backs attached, skin removed
1 1/4 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tbs olive oil

Instructions

pre-heat oven 350F

Add the buttermilk, garlic, hot sauce, salt, and pepper, paprika, oregano, onion powder and cayenne to the chicken. Cover, and refrigerate 12 hours, turning once. Bread the chicken. Spread olive oil over a parchmentpaper-lined baking tray. Place chicken on tray. Bake until golden and crispy 45 mins, flipping for last 15 mins.

Creative Tuesdays - My Favourite Piece 2014

For Creative Tuesdays, I chose this one as my favourite piece this year:

And these are my 2014 Christmas Cards, I actually had three different designs printed with my original art!  Which one would you prefer to receive?

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful holiday season and a happy 2015!

Monday Greeting

Son K recently asked/bugged me to make some cookies.  I found an old recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies which called for brown sugar.  It would be the perfect opportunity to use up some hardened brown sugar I had stored in a spaghetti jar.  I googled and found a neat way to soften it.  It said to put a moistened paper towel in the jar with the hardened sugar and microwave in bursts of 20 seconds.  In between bursts you break up the softening sugar.  The good news is that it worked and I was able to use up the old sugar.  Lost without the internet, that would be me! 

Husband M and I went with some friends to the Donny and Marie Christmas show currently playing in Toronto. They are pros, Marie was beautifully dressed and we had a good time. Well, except traffic was so bad that night we were 20 minutes late for the show. I've never been late for a show before.